After three years of war, during which there had been no Nobel Peace Prize awarded, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the 1917 prize to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

From the outbreak of World War I, the Nobel Committee had decided not to award its annual peace prize, stating officially that there had been no worthy candidates nominated. In January 1917, however, Professor Louis Renault, a prominent lawyer, past winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (in 1906, for his role in the extension of the Geneva Convention to include maritime warfare), and current president of the French Red Cross, nominated the ICRC for that year’s prize. Renault worked closely with the secretary of the Nobel committee, Ragnvald Moe, during the pre-nomination process. In addition, the government of Switzerland had separately nominated the ICRC, whose operatives were based in Geneva.

In their nominations, both Renault and the Swiss lauded the Red Cross for its establishment of the International Prisoner-of-War Agency, which worked to provide relief to soldiers captured by enemy forces and provide communication between the prisoners and their families. They also praised its efforts to transport wounded soldiers to their home countries via neutral Switzerland. Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers worked in Geneva and in the field during the war, directing inquiries to military commandants and hospital officials alike in order to find information about prisoners and the wounded and sending more than 800,000 communiqués to soldiers’ families by June 1917.

This was not the first time, nor the last, that the Red Cross would be honored by the Nobel Committee for its humanitarian work. Its founder, Henry Dunant of Switzerland, was awarded the first-ever peace prize in 1901; the Red Cross organization would go on to claim the prize twice more by the end of the century, in 1944 and 1963.

http://www.militair.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=5863_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

The First Battle of Champagne, which after minor skirmishes began on 20 December 1914, was effectively the first significant attack by the Allies against the Germans since the construction of trenches following the so-called 'race to the sea' during the autumn of 1914.

Joffre, the French Commander-in-Chief, was determined to win the war quickly, and despite a lack of success in more local attacks against trench lines, resolved to launch a major offensive extending along the whole line from Nieuport to Verdun, throughout the Artois and Champagne regions.

In the event the winter offensive was primarily directed against a notable salient, the Sayon Salient, which the Germans had forced into central France from Reims to Verdun; a smaller salient also existed further south at St. Mihiel.

Joffre's plan involved a numerically superior attack against the German Third Army on the Sayon salient at its most northern and southerly edges, to be followed by an advance through the Ardennes, intended to cut off a potential German retreat, the whole offensive aided by a supporting attack from the River Yser through to Verdun.

The offensive was launched with minor attacks on 10 December 1914 at the southern edge of the Sayon salient, near Perthes in eastern Champagne. Despite heavy fighting - at Givenchy from 18-22 December, Perthes on 20 December, and at Noyon on 22 December - French gains were minimal.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/champagne1.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

http://www.oorlogserfgoedalveringem.be/nl/10-december-1917_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Enough men came forward not only to fill the ranks of K3, but to form reserves. These units were not necessarily formed at their traditional home stations (e.g. the 13th Highland Light Infantry was formed in Gosport, Hampshire). They were initially formed up into six Divisions of K4, and were initially numbered 27 to 32. Once again, however, enough regular units to create three additional Divisions had been withdrawn from service around the Empire and took precedence in taking the Divisional numbers 27 to 29. Thus K4 was renumbered 30th to 35th Divisions and the units were initially trained not as reserves but as fighting units.

A decision was subsequently taken to re-convert the battalions of K4 into Reserve units, breaking up the Divisions, and creating Training Reserve Brigades.

Eventually enough men had volunteered that on 10 December 1914, the order was issued to create a Fifth New Army (which was never called K5). Its six Divisions were initially numbered 37 to 42. It was renumbered K4 when the original K4 was conmverted to reserve units and broken up, and the Fifth New Army Divisions took the original numbers 30 to 35. Most of the units of this Army were locally raised units, often referred to as Pals. All moved overseas in late 1915 or early 1916.

http://www.1914-1918.net/kitcheners.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

http://www.amsterdamsetrams.nl/tijdlijn/tijdlijn1914.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

One of the best-known battles of World War One was the Gallipoli Campaign, which resulted in a loss by each side of a quarter of a million casualties.

Britain originally assumed that the Ottoman Empire did not pose a significant military threat, and therefore could be ignored until the European portion of the war was finished. But the Germans ruined Britain’s plans by embarking on trench building. Trenches ran for 35,000 miles up and down Western Europe, and the British could not see a way through without coming from Germany’s rear. The Secretary of War articulated the subsequent British policy that “Germany can perhaps be struck most effectively, and with the most lasting results on the peace of the world through her allies, and particularly through Turkey.” The way into Turkey was from the Mediterranean through the 38-mile-long strait, the Dardenelles, and past the forbidding heights of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Churchill, Lord of the Admiralty, tried to argue for a combined attack by the army and navy; the strait is at no point more than four miles wide, and if the Turks were dug into the heights, a purely naval attack would merely provide the Turkish artillery with an opportunity to make literal the concept of “turkey shoot.” But the War Minister, Lord Kitchener, declined to provide any troops for Churchill’s navy; he felt they were needed in Europe. Thus Churchill was forced to do his best with the navy, and the inevitable disaster ensued.

Following the initial failure of the naval attacks, Kitchener agreed to send troops, but without depleting the forces in Europe. Therefore, volunteers from Australia and New Zealand were recruited and formed into the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). The troops landed on the beaches below the entrenched Turks on the heights, but were never able to scale the cliffs. More than 16,000 Anzacs died trying to break out of the beachhead.

A good way to find out about the sacrifice of the Anzac troops is to see the 1981 movie “Gallipoli,” directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson, inter alia. The movie, which won a number of awards, will bring the battle to life for you.

The cemetery register of Poperinghe New Military Cemetery states that Lt. Eric Skeffington Poole died of wounds on 10 December 1916. Tactfully, it omits to record also that his death was caused by a British Army firing squad.

In the early 1900’s Eric Poole served with the 63 (Halifax Rifles) Militia in his native Nova Scotia, where his father was County Mining Engineer but the family moved to Britain a few years before the war. In early October 1914 Eric joined the Honourable Artillery Company as a driver in B Reserve Battery but was commissioned on 3 May 1915 and initially served with 14 Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment in the United Kingdom. At the end of May 1916 he was sent overseas to join 11 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, 23 Division in France.

On 7 July 1916, while in action at Horseshoe trench near Contalmaison, on the Somme, lumps of earth thrown up by the nearby explosion of an
enemy artillery shell knocked him and Poole was later hospitalised with shellshock. After convalescing, he was classified as fit for duty and returned on I September to his unit at Ploegstraat in the Ieper Salient. A fortnight later the battalion moved back to the Somme and at Martinpuich, about twelve kilometres north-east of Albert, Poole was given command of a platoon of C Company.

During the morning of 5 October, Poole mentioned he was thinking about seeing a doctor after complaining about feeling rheumatic and “damned bad” to a fellow lieutenant. At the time both had been discussing going into the trenches and during the evening C Company were duly given orders to move from support trenches and into the front line at Flers. The 1800 metre journey along involved the unit moving up in small groups along meandering communication trenches and it was midnight before they all finally settled in at their destination and an inspection by Captain C.L. Armstrong, the company commander, revealed Poole was missing.

Exactly where and when Poole parted company with his platoon has never been clear but he was to explain that feeling confused and indecisive at around 5 p.m., he wandered away from his platoon. At 10 a.m. the following morning the medical officer of 10 Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, also stationed at Martinpuich, reported an unknown officer from 11 West Yorkshires had visited his medical inspection room, asking for a few tablets to ease rheumatism. The MO had no tablets and suggested that they could be obtained from a Field Ambulance.

On 7 October near a water tank at Henencourt Wood, nearly 6 kilometres west of Albert the suspicious guard detained an officer enquiring about the location of 23 Division and summoned the Military Police. The police noted the detainee was, “Wearing a private’s tunic, with one star on each shoulder strap and a leather jacket over the tunic.” When called on to produce an identity disc, the officer, who said he belonged to 14 Bn. but was attached to 11 Bn. West Yorkshires gave the police a blank piece of paper. The officer was not categorically identified as Poole until interrogated by Lt. Col Hugh Rose, who later recalled that the lieutenant said he had been, “Sent back from the Battalion to join the transport.” To another staff officer, the lieutenant had explained that he had been ordered back to the vicinity of Henencourt because “He was nervous and that another officer had been sent back to the transport for thought he had been previously sent back for the same reason.”

A mess cart carried Poole back to his battalion transport lines near Beacourt Wood, where the battalion Quartermaster, Lieutenant E.A. Cooper later recalled:

“He seemed to me to be in a very dazed condition and from conversation which I had with him I came to the conclusion he was not responsible for his actions. He was very confused indeed, I attributed his condition to exposure since he left the battalion.“

However, Cooper reported Poole was much better after a night’s rest. Lt. Col . M.G.H. Barker, Poole’s battalion commander, had the lieutenant arrested on 10 October.

Nine days later, after a court of inquiry had been convened to examine Poole’s absence, Brigadier General T.S. Lambert, commanding 69 Infantry Brigade recommended that the lieutenant should not be court martialled because he was “Not really accountable for his actions. He is of nervous temperament, useless in action, and dangerous as an example to the men.” The 11 West Yorkshires, he added, had excellent discipline and had done well in action at Le Sars on 7 October. Lambert wrote to the 23 Division commander, Major General J.M. Babington, declaring:

“I recommend that 2nd Lieut. E.S. Poole be sent home away from the firing line as soon as possible. Before the war he was employed on engineering work in Canada. He could usefully employed at home in instructional duties or in any minor administrative work, not involving severe strain of the nerves.”

“Physically he is in a good state, but he is of a highly strung, neurotic temperament, and I am of the opinion that it is possible (sic) the excitement may being on a condition which would make him not responsible for his actions at the time.”

Notwithstanding these assessments, on 25 October the Army Commander, Lieutenant General Henry Rawlinson ordered Poole be charged with desertion and the latter was tried by General Court Martial on 24 November. Prosecution witnesses testified to Poole’s absence, also advancing their opinions about his character and behaviour. His company commander remarked, “On the only occasion we had been in the trenches before this I noticed his nerves seemed rather shaken.” Commending on Poole’s intelligence, his battalion commander stated, “I should say he is below the average in intellect. He is rather stupid.”

In his own defence, Poole did little more than reiterate his medical history and confess that he had not realised the seriousness of his actions on 5 October.

Two fellow officers from his battalion appeared as witnesses for the defence, 2nd Lieutenant H. Alnwick and the unit’s medical officer, Captain D.O. Riddle RAMC. The former, who had served with Poole in Britain, explained that the defendant had never commanded a platoon until arriving in France, concluding, “I should say he was not fit to have charge of a platoon. He is in my opinion more than eccentric, when talking his mind is apt to wander and not keep to his subject.”

Riddle, who had known Poole since May, concurred:

” I have always noticed something peculiar in his manner. He is somewhat eccentric, and markedly lacking in decision… in times of stress or while under shell fire the accused mental condition is such that he might very well have great difficulty in coming to any decision and might become so mentally confused that he would not be responsible for his actions.”

After the court elicited from Riddle that Poole was more susceptible to shell shock than a “normal man”, it was the turn of the prisoner’s friend, 2nd Lieutenant M.T. Dawson to sum up the case for the defence. In what was Dawson’s only intervention in the proceedings, he cited evidence presented to the court by Cooper (who appeared as a witness for the prosecution), Alnwick and Riddle, maintained that Poole had been confused and it was therefore unable to form the intention necessary to prove desertion. Dawson ended by contending:

“Mr Alnwick’s evidence shows that before the accused came to France he was what is called ‘super eccentric’ and I suggest that this is only a kind word for a graver mental defect.”

The strength of Alnwick's comment was rather nullified by the final remark in the summing up by 2nd Lieutenant O.F. Dowson, the Judge Advocate General who provided legal advice to the court. In his resume, after remarking that it was up to the court to decide about the extent to which Poole had been affected by shell shock during July, Dowson finished off with:

“ A man is not of course unable to form an intention to go away or to shirk a duty because he has a feeble type of intelligence.”

The President of the court, Brigadier General H. Gordon, commanding 70 Infantry Brigade and four other officers who sat in judgement found Poole guilty.

On 3 December, a three-strong Medical Board, the most senior member of which was Lieutenant Colonel H.G. Martin RAMC, examined the convicted officer. Martin was also the president of the Standing Medical Board, Etaples, which had passed Poole as fit for duty during August, and so would have been most unlikely to contradict his previous judgement about Poole’s fitness for service. Of his two associates, Major G.F. Sheehan, RAMC Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Services, 16 Division, had qualified in psychological medicine in 1908. The other, Captain F.G. Crookshank , was an experienced and well qualified hospital clinician whose interest in psychology blossomed into print after the war ended. They all agreed that Poole, “Was of sound mind and capable of appreciating the nature and quality of his action in absenting himself without leave on October 5th 1916, and that such act was wrong.” They believed that he was, “Now of sound mind” but also were of the opinion that Poole’s, “Mental powers are less than average. He appears dull under cross examination, and his perception is slow.”

Their equivocation left the decision to confirm the court’s sentence firmly in the hands of the Commander in Chief, Field marshal Sir Douglas Haig. Haig’s justification for having Poole killed was basically because hitherto no officer had been sentenced to death and executed. In his diary, Haig confided:

“Such a case is more serious in the case of an officer than a man, and it is also highly important that all ranks should realise the law is the same for an officer as a private.”

Haig’s nonsensical excuses took no account of Poole’s medical history and the Field Marshal’s affirmation that military law was applied with equal force to both officers and other ranks was wholly unsupported by their respective rates of conviction and the severity of punishments. When it suited the British military authorities, shell shock and mental instability served to excuse murder, as in the case of Captain Bowen-Colthurst.

Bowen-Colthurst successfully pleaded insanity arising from shellshock as a means of escaping responsibility for the wilful murder of three unarmed civilians during the Irish Easter Rebellion earlier in 1916. His court martial became a cause celebre and provoked a sustained political furore which culminated in a Royal Commission of Enquiry into the murders. The report of the Royal Commission was issued in late September and though only partially exposing Bowen-Colhurst’s mendacity, provoked further public uproar at the time Poole’s case was being processed. Of course, this may only have been a macabre coincidence, but Haig’s insistence on shooting Poole, enabled the army to rightfully claim that it did not indiscriminately accept shell shock as an excuse for officers’ misbehaviour. That said, had the hapless lieutenant been the social equal or personally acquainted with senior British Staff Officers, there is little doubt he would have not have even been arrested, let alone faced a court martial.

Poole’s final hours were spent in Poperinge Town Hall, where he was executed on 10 December. Brief summaries of his offence and punishment, as well as the similar fate of three privates who had also been convicted of desertion, were published in BEF Routine Orders on 14 December. There was no political fuss in Britain about the unprecedented decision to have Poole executed, mainly because his distraught family understandably wished to avoid distressing his elderly, ailing father. Given the furore which public disclosure of other executions and enduring sensitivity over the Bowen-Colthurst affair, the War Office appear to have been all too pleased to comply with the family’s wishes and omit disclosure of Lt. Poole’s name from casualty lists which were circulated to the press.

http://www.shotatdawn.info/page16.html_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/sunk17.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Sfatul Ţării was in 1917-1918 the National Assembly (parliament) of the Governorate (guberniya, province) of Bessarabia of the disintegrating Russian Empire, which proclaimed the independent Moldavian Democratic Republic in December 1917, and then union with Romania in April (according to the old style, March) 1918.

The Surafend affair was the premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the Arab village of Surafend (now the area of Tzrifin in Israel) and a Bedouin camp in Palestine by soldiers of the Anzac Mounted Division on 10 December 1918. The massacre, believed to have been in response to the murder of a New Zealand soldier by a villager, was mostly overshadowed by the military achievements of the Division, although it caused a significant rift between the Division and its Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Edmund Allenby.

The village of Surafend (also known as Sarafand) was located nearby to the camps of the three brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division: the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, and the Australian 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades. The proximity of the village coupled with a perceived general British Army acceptance and dismissal of petty crime by the local Arabs meant that thefts and even murders took place regularly with little to no redress from the Imperial forces. The reluctance of the British to punish or avenge such crimes led to a build-up of resentment among the Division towards both the native Arabs and the British General Headquarters.

In December 1918, a New Zealand soldier, 65779 Trooper Leslie Lowry, was woken from his sleep by an Arab man attempting to steal his bag which he was using as a pillow. The soldier pursued the thief and called for assistance from the picket guards on the camp's horselines. As he caught up, the thief turned and shot him with a revolver. Lowry was found lying in the sand, bleeding from a bullet wound to the chest. He died just as a doctor arrived, having said nothing. The camp was roused, and a group of New Zealand soldiers followed the footprints of the thief which ended about a hundred yards before the village of Surafend. Soldiers set up a cordon around the village, and ordered the Sheikhs of the village to surrender the murderer, but they were evasive and denied any knowledge of the incident and its perpetrator. In addition, the death was brought to the attention of the staff of the division the following day, but by nightfall there had been no response on what action, if any, should be taken. According to the police report, there was no evidence linking anyone from the village to the murder. The report states:

At 0930 on the 10th December 1918 the Police commenced to search the Village and found no trace whatsoever of the culprit, or even any other individual suspected of the crime. The only material clue was that of a Native Cap (similar to headgear worn by Bedouins) which was picked up by a mate of the deceased, and handed to me by Captain Cobb. This was found on the scene where the Soldier was shot and killed.

The following day, the men of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles prepared for what was to take place that night. Early in the evening, around two hundred soldiers entered the village, expelling the women and children. Armed with heavy sticks and bayonets, the soldiers then set upon the remaining villagers whilst also burning the houses. Somewhere upwards of about 40 people may have been killed in the attack on Surafend and the outlying Bedouin camp. The casualty figures depend upon the testimony from the reporting authority. There is no certain figure and one account puts the figure at more than 100. Also there were also the unknown numbers of injured who were tended to by the field ambulance units.

http://www.agindepers.nl/kwestie/CE-10-12-1918.html_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Caption:The Gap in the Bridge. Cartoon about the absence of the USA from the League of Nations, depicted as the missing keystone of the arch.
Date: (10 December 1919)
Source: Raffo, P. (1974). The League of Nations. London: The Historical Association, p. 7
Author: Punch Magazine (10 December 1919)

This cartoon implies that without America the bridge would collapse. The bridge represents the League of Nations, and Uncle Sam, the personification of America is reluctant to place the keystone in the bridge to complete it. This is odd because in the Treaty of Versailles, it was Woodrow Wilson the president of America that suggested that the League of Nations as part of his fourteen points. The missing keystone demonstrates how difficult the League will function without have the United States as a member. But it was a Republican majority in Congress that blocked the USA's entry into the League, not the President. It is now known that Wilson was very, very ill during vital periods at Versailles and afterwards and probably lacked the will to win Congress around.

10 December 1919 → Commons Sitting: GERMAN WAR MATERIAL (MANUFACTURE).

Mr. L. LYLE asked the Prime Minister whether the Allies are, under the terms of the Peace Treaty, making provision to ensure that the chief German works associated with the manufacture of war material are no longer devoting themselves to this object; whether he can state the present and contemplated employment of Krupps; and whether it will be permitted to carry on as hitherto its activities in stirring up world trouble to assist it in selling its wares?

Mr. BONAR LAW The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, and to the last part in the negative. His Majesty's Government have no precise information with regard to the second part of the question. Such information as is obtainable, however, indicates that the Krupp Works are undergoing conversion to the manufacture of commercial articles.

https://www.abfition.com/wo1/spaanse-griep.htm_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Soldiers’ Newsletter, 10 December 1917
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL NEWS LETTER NO. 8

December 10, 1917

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

A MERRY CHRISTMAS to the boys in the U.S.A.!

We had hoped to make this a Merry Christmas for you all, but we have the right of way to the P.E.D. letter , so we fear Santa will have paid his visit and hied him on his way before this reaches the boys in foreign parts. And old Greybeard 1917 will be making his exit, and young Kewpie 1918 will be coming toward the center of the stage. He will look out upon a storm-tossed, weary world as he enters. But we all earnestly hope that things will change, and the sunshine over master the clouds before he has had time to grow very old and sedate. The friends at home most heartily and eagerly wish for each of you only good things for 1918: that you may each one keep your good health and courage for whatever you may be called upon to face. Be assured always that the home folks are ever “pulling” for you with all their might. When 1918 has, in his turn, become old and hoary, we trust he will find you all back with us, stronger and richer in every way for this experience, well equipped for conquering the legal world , as you will have conquered the military.

Since the Holiday Season is the time when we naturally turn our thoughts homeward, we will make this primarily a letter about home affairs. First in importance, however, comes the result of the strenous labor of the second training camp at Fort Sheridan: to-wit –

The enrollment this semester was 215 against 345 last year, Many of the registrants have since left to go into government clerical service at Washington, and into the Q.M. and Ord. Corps. Some, too, have rone into the Nat’l Army and the aviation service. The last report of the N.U. squad of the school of M.A. at Champaign showed the names of Messrs. R.E.Brown, Henderson, Sherwood, Garten, Lorin Taylor, Keig, Klee, Jaccard, Jos. Wright. Messrs. Lloyd Taylor, Ffrench, Grubb, and Puterbaugh are the flying school in Austin, Tex. Harry Jones and Benj. Wohl have completed their ground school work and have gone abroad to fly the U.S. flag on high.

You will be interested in the scholastic Honor-roll. Mr. Coon leads the 1919 list; Miss Rader the 1919.

With the exception of our Major Dean and Professor Hyde, our faculty remains about the same as last year. Prof. Harley has taken over the Contemp. Legislation work; Prof. Millar is lecturing on Evidence and Prof. Scholfield is leading the Freshie thru tortuous Torts.

Dan Cupid has again been hovering around our door. This time he nabbed Clyde DeWitt and ran him up to Evanston to the home of Miss Ernestine Leigh, and when Dan came out again Miss Leigh was no more. But Clyde keeps on smiling.

The law school is going to break clear into SOCIETY, now that you are far away. Yes, it’s to be a dinner-dance, and at the Edgewater Beach! On Saturday, Dec, 15th; $1.50 for a six-course dinner and all the dances than can be run in. The (r) ousing committee in charge is Rowe, Rockhill, Ruth Ruskin and Kelly. A good time will doubtless be had by all. Come on in.

If plans now rapidly maturing gang night aglee, the corridors of the law school will soon be greatly glorified. The officers of the Class of ’17 are setting about to make possible the donation to the school of an Old Glory flag, about 8’ x 16′. The members of the Faculty are donating a Service Flag, to bear a star for every 1917 student now in service, and one for each alumnus so far as we have knowledge of them. This flag will have room for 200 stars and is being made up by the ladies of the school, under the able generalship of Miss Lawrie. This flag is also to be 8 x 16, and the two flags are to hang – for the duration of the war – on the wall between the office and the faculty room doors on either side the bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln. In addition to these, Miss Lawrie is making and presenting a smaller service flag, containing a star for each man in school last year or this, now in service. There will be some 85 stars on this flag at the outset, and it will hang in the window near the bulletin board.

PIQUANT PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS.

When H. F. Bell’s regiment left for Texas he was one of three left in Chicago to do recruiting work.

Vincent Bell is one of the latest applicants for the high fliers.

Benj. Black is in the M.R.C. at Camp Grant, and is very enthusiastic over his work there.

R.E.Brown writes from Champaign ” I am trying to walk in the paths that Harry Jones trod in his progress towards aerial education. And, believe me, it is some incline.”

Serg. Chipman is in the Infirmary Dept, Camp Shelby, Miss.

Lieut. Cole recently took a trip to Texas accompanied by 500 men from Camp Grant. He came back alone. The men were mostly former residents of the W. Madisn and Halsted St. District, but “King” was looking husky, hearty and handsome after the ordeal.

Mr. Forgy writes interestingly of his life and experiences in Texas

Mr. Fredenhagen is now a resider in the Great Lakes colony.

Lieut. Groth writes: “One cannot help waxing eloquent on the personnel of THE ARMY. A finer body of men will never be assembled. Rather startling statement to be sure, but one which will be amply borne out on the march to Berlin. In our battery we have the scions of the Gold Coast rubbing shoulders with a factory worker, and, strangest of all, NEITHER GRIMACING. Quite a cosmopolitan body of men; from every walk of life, but all entering into the work with one grim, great resolve. The password of the old men to the bewildered, and in some cases, hesitant, now rookie is “you’ll like it.” And they surely do. They seem to expand both mentally and physically the moment they don the uniform, when the first step toward making a Sammy is completed.”

C. F. Jacobson is in the Field Sig. Batt., Camp Custer, Mich.

Lieut. “Tex” Johnson, as happy as ever, in N.Mex. writes, “The war doesn’t seem to worry us a bit down here. We are having Garrison school now, and of course we refer to it occasionally, but that is all. Once in a while someofficer is lucky enough to get detailed to some other place, and then we all go down to the station and ask him where he got all the political pull, and who is his congressmen.” P.L. Lindley, ‘19, is in Camp Jackson, So. Carolina.

S.J. MacKinnon, ’18, while in the trenches at Fort Sheridan, ran up against an ex-prize fighter. Result: one broken rib in MacKinnon.

Lieut. F.G.Marshall i s one of the four minute orators from Camp Grant.

W. S. Perlman is a later recruit in the [Ordnance?] Dpt., Rock Island.

-3-

O.P. Stelle is married, and also in the Q.M.C. at Camp Dodge, Ia.

“Ted” Stone is delighted to announce that he’s a corporal now. He has ambitions for the third camp. We surely hope he makes it.

J.F.Wilson, ‘17, is a Y.M.C.A. secretary at Camp Sherman, Ohio.

Mack Wylie is reported as being with the U.S.M.C. at Galveston.

James J. Trainor is a boarder at Camp Grant, in the Field Hospital section, but we understand has his eye on the aviation branch of service.

There was a fine military ball at the Champagin aviation school las tweek. Extra papers announce that Max Henderson stood on guard while the other fellows danced. Quelque life, this militaire. N’cest pas, Max?

1st Lieut Hutchins fairly glistens in his new bars and braid. He tries to look frail and emaciated as he announces that he is to be sent south for his health this winter (Camp Greene, N.C.). He doesn’t succeed as well as he did in winning a commission. Am fraid when the authorities see him they will ship him to a far northern port.

“Mrs Major” Wigmore writes that she believes the Major “has never been more busy than he is right now”, and we can all testify that is“going some”. He is hoping to have a little respite from his strenuous labors about the middle of this month. We understand his present working hours are 8 A.M. to 2 A.M.

The editors send their thanks for encomiums on the news letters. Ifmore of you wrote more often the letters could more often appear.

Here’s hoping that none of you get so far away that Santa does not find you, and wishing you all the joy and good cheer of the season, we are

The Friends you Left Behind You.

P.S. We stop the press to record the following mailgram from Cadet Harry Jones: “Arrived in England last week, but my stay there was very short. Am in France now on my way to the Flying Field. Here is my “nom de guerre” until I qualify for my wings and bars.”

Aviation Section Signal Corps. 11th Detachment,

A.E.F.

Second Stop: Ex-Sous Chef L.G.Caldwell has just landed on the dock at an eastern port.

'Votes for Women' was originally the official voice of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). The journal was edited by Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence from 1907 to 1918. Although the Pethick-Lawrences were expelled from the WSPU in 1912, they continued to edit the newspaper in 1913-1914 and gradually formed a group of moderate militants around it: the Votes for Women Fellowship.

From the archive, 10 December 1914: The Scout's part in the warOriginally published in the Manchester Guardian on 10 December 1914

The time perhaps has come when we may usefully consider to what extent the Boy Scout movement has justified its existence as a helpful agency in time of war. Only a few years back we were most of us smiling at the mimic warfare of the bare-kneed youngster with the broomstick. Now that the country is up against the real thing, and even a boy counts, what do we find that this same small warrior has learnt to do? What real service does he render that has won his picturesque and healthy uniform official recognition? In what way has he, adding his little contribution to the common store, deserved well of his Fatherland?

Most of us know, for the press was generous, what he did at the outbreak of the war – how he helped the police and Territorials in guarding bridges and culverts, telegraph and railway lines, often keeping night watch, and running what might have proved serious risks; how on foot and cycle he delivered countless messages, and reported several not imaginary spies; and how he enjoyed it all, feeling that at last he was playing the real game, as a recognised servant of the King. For the Scouts, too, in all countries, were mobilised, and I imagine that in varying ways they have equally proved their value everywhere. In Belgium they have seen much active service. In France many have made their way to the front, and serve as despatch riders – one such, after being wounded in Alsace, near Rheims, and at Ypres, is in Manchester, and many more have been organised for ambulance work and for replacing minor cogs in the administrative wheel.

Personally, I shall not easily forget the sight of French Scouts piloting our own soldiers round at Havre in August acting as guides, interpreters, and very faithful squires. "Please tell Baden-Powell that I don't know how we should get on without these little chaps," was the repeated request of officer and private alike.

In England some fourteen hundred Scouts have, since the war began, been patrolling the coasts keeping watch, signalling ships, and generally replacing coastguards now on active service. A motor ambulance manned by expert Scouts is being sent to France. Over ten thousand ex-Scouts are known to be with the colours, and officers have abundantly recognised the value of their training and their spirit. The Boy Scouts have offered to raise for service at the front a full battalion of cyclists, provided with machines and a guaranteed proficiency in scouting and despatch-riding.

http://www.historien.nl/kerstvrede-1914/_________________
"A grand canyon has opened up in our world, the fissure, the crack, grows wider every day. Neither on each side can hear a word that the other shrieks and nor do they want to."
-Stephen Fry on political correctness.

Thomas Edison's Reaction To His Factory Burning Down Shows Why He Was So SuccessfulRichard Feloni - 2014

At around 5:30 in the evening on Dec. 10, 1914, a massive explosion erupted in West Orange, New Jersey. Ten buildings in legendary inventor Thomas Edison's plant, which made up more than half of the site, were engulfed in flames. Between six and eight fire departments rushed to the scene, but the chemical-fueled inferno was too powerful to put out quickly.
According to a 1961 Reader's Digest article by Edison's son Charles, Edison calmly walked over to him as he watched the fire destroy his dad's work. In a childlike voice, Edison told his 24-year-old son, "Go get your mother and all her friends. They'll never see a fire like this again." When Charles objected, Edison said, "It's all right. We've just got rid of a lot of rubbish."

Later, at the scene of the blaze, Edison was quoted in The New York Times as saying, "Although I am over 67 years old, I'll start all over again tomorrow." He told the reporter that he was exhausted from remaining at the scene until the chaos was under control, but he stuck to his word and immediately began rebuilding the next morning without firing any of his employees.

Was there any other viable response? In the new book, "The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph," author Ryan Holiday says there wasn't. Sure, Edison could have wept, yelled in anger, or locked himself in his house in a state of depression. But instead, he put on a smile and told his son to enjoy the spectacle.

"To do great things, we need to be able to endure tragedy and setbacks," Holiday writes. "We've got to love what we do and all that it entails, good and bad. We have to learn to find joy in every single thing that happens."

After thoroughly surveying the damage, Edison determined that he'd lost $919,788 (about $23 million in today's dollars), according to Matthew Josephson's biography. The flames had consumed years of priceless records and prototypes, and his plant's insurance covered only about a third of the total damage.

But after just three weeks, with a sizable loan from his friend Henry Ford, Edison got part of the plant up and running again. His employees worked double shifts and set to work producing more than ever. Edison and his team went on to make almost $10 million in revenue the following year.

Edison's story is a powerful example of Stoicism, the ancient Greek philosophy that Holiday explores in his book. Holiday explains that the Stoics were not emotionless men devoid of feelings, but rather men who practiced total control over their emotions in a way that acknowledged forces beyond their control.

Holiday uses philosopher and writer Nassim Nicholas Taleb's definition to describe a Stoic: someone who "transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking."

It's fine to initially respond to loss or failure with sadness or anger, says Holiday, but only if it's fleeting. When tragedy strikes, you must accept that it has happened and that you cannot change the past. Finding the opportunity to overcome a challenge ultimately makes you stronger.

Edison not only mastered his emotions but he also instilled this mindset in his employees. As A.H. Wilson, his vice president and general manager, told The Times after the flames died down: "There's only one thing to do, and that is to jump right in and rebuild."